Refrigerator car



June 17, 1941. HELwlG 2.245.916

REFRIGERATOR CAR Filed Aug. 21, 1939 lnvcwfor:

Arfhur A. Hc/wg Patented June 17, 1941 i UNITED STAT V 2,245,916 r r REFRIGERATOR CAR Arthur A. Helwig, Chicago, 111., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Refrigerator Company, a corporation of Delaware Application August 21, 1939, Serial No. 291,109

jlclaim. 01. 62-17) V This invention relates to refrigerator'cars used to transport perishable commodities at a prede-' termined temperature. The essential features of a refrigerator car are an insulated body to 'prevent or retard ingress of heat during warm Weather and egress of heat during cold weather and a cooling means and a heating means to be used during Warm and cold weather respectively.

This invention applies particularly to cars in which the cooling means preferably containers for water ice, eutectic ice, brine or dry ice, are disposed immediately below the roof of the car. The lading is supported in spaced relation to the floor by a foraminous rack. Flues; preferably associatedwith the side walls of the car, communicate between the cooling means and the space under the floor rack to provide a path for the circulation of air. cooling means downwardly through the aforementioned fiues, through the space under the floor rack, upwardly through the lading compartment thereby cooling the lading, and finally to .the cooling means from where the cycle is repeated.

An object of the invention is to reinforce and stiffen the refrigerant container by corrugating some or all of the walls thereof; the term Walls being intended in a broad sense so as to include the top and bottom, as well as the vertical walls. A further object is to place the container with its corrugated walls substantially in contact with a wall of the ear or with an adjacent container, thereby securely supporting the container as well as providing flues for air circulation between the container and the aforementioned wall or adjacent container.

Another object of the invention is to brace adjacent tanks against each other and provide air flues therebetween. I accomplish this by corrugating the adjacent sides of both containers and having the outwardly projecting parts of the corrugations in one container in contact with the similar parts of the adjacent container, thereby providing air flues between the inwardly projecting parts of the corrugations in the container walls.

Another object of the invention is to increase the area of contact of the air with the cold surface of the refrigerant container. Corrugations which I claim as my invention have a considerably greater surfalce than a flat surface. A further object is to increase the refrigerant capacity of the containers without increasing the height or width of the car. The outwardly projecting parts of the corrugations provide in- The path is from the car embodying my invention.-

creased space for the accommodationofrefrig erant. i

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a refrigerator I Fig. 2' is a longitudinal section of the upper portion or the car shown in- Fig. 1 as indicated by the line 22 of Fig. l.

Figs. 3 and 4-arefragmentary sectional views of portions of the as indicated by' the lines 3-3 and l-4, respectively, in Fig; 1.

The general parts of the refrigerator-par shown are insulated roof 2-; side wallsf3'; floor 4; hatch 5; refrigerant container 6; sidewallflue I; foraminous floor rack8 and-space=9 between rack 8 and floor 4. A refrigerant container 6 is positioned'directly below the roof 2 and adjacent the side wall 3. A drip pan I2 is"p ro'- videdbelow the container 6 and apartition' I4 is secured in an upstanding position at the edge of the drip pan l2. The drip pan I2 and partition I4 cooperate with the roof 2 and side wall 3 to form an enclosing structure ll around the container 6, an air inlet opening 15 being provided by spacing the partition 14 from the roof 2. An air discharge opening I! which leads to the flue I is formed by spacing the drip pan I2 from the wall 3.

Air circulation is as follows: Air in the ladin compartment I8 is warmed by contact with the lading and rises to enter the enclosing structure II through the air inlet opening i5. The air is cooled by contact with the cold refrigerant container 6 and falls by reason of its greater density through the discharge opening I! and flue I to the space 9 whence it rises through the rack 8 to the lading compartment I8. Cars of this type usually have a row of refrigerant containers near each wall and directly below the roof so that air flowing from the lading compartment flows between the containers disposed on opposite sides of the car.

In the form of my invention shown, the refrigerant container 6 comprises a bottom 20; a top 2|; side walls 2223 and end walls 24. The outwardly projecting parts 26 of the corrugations 21 in the bottom 20 of the container 6 are in contact with the drip pan 12, thereby providing flues 29 between the inwardly projecting parts 30 of the corrugations and the drip pan 12. The outer parts 35 of the corrugations 36 in the top 2| are in contact with the ceiling 38 and the spaces between the inwardly projecting parts 39 and the ceiling 38 form flues 40 for the circulation of air. The outwardly projecting parts 45 ing 51 of the side Wall 3 of the car, thereby forming the fines 59 between the inwardly projecting parts 60 of the corrugations 56 and the lining 57. The outwardly projecting parts 65 of the corrugations 66 in the side wall 23 are in contact with the partition l4, thus forming the fiues 65 between the inwardly projecting parts 68 of the corrugations 66 and partition l4.-

In Fig. 2, the right half of the container 6 is' shown formed with sinuous corrugations 15, whereas the left half is shown with the inwardly projecting parts of the corrugations H embodying a flat portion 18 of considerable width; It is" not intended that containers should be constructed strictly in accordance with Fig. 2, but that the containers may be formed with corrugations as shown either on the right or on the left. It is also intended, for example, that the end Walls 24 of the container may be formed with one type of corrugation, while the 'bottom 26 of the container may be formed with another type of corrugation, or that each wall may havea different type of corrugation. The advantage advanced for the corrugations Tl shown on the left is that the size of the air flues is very considerably increased but at a sacrifice of strength. The type of corrugation used would depend upon the requirements as to both strength of container and area of flue required.

The arrows in Fig. 1 show the path of the air circulation. A portion of the air flows through the flues 40 above the container and the flues 59 at the side 22 of the container, another portion flows through the fiues 61 at the side 23 and the fines 29 at the bottom 20 of the container, and still another part flows through the flues 50 between the containers. All of the circulating air converges into the side wall flue I, flows into the the space 9 under the floor rack 8, then to the lading compartment and finally back to the refrig'erant compartment II whence the cycle is repeated.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to v be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claim, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In a refrigerator car having a lading compartment, a roof, a wall and a flue adjacent said wall leading from the upperto the lower part of the car, apair of refrigerant containers each disposed adjacent said wall and near said roof, the adjacent walls of said containers being formed with substantially horizontal outwardly projectingcorrugations, the corrugations of one of the containers being in contact with the corrugations of the other container and the part of the walls between said corrugations being spaced apart to form a plurality of ducts communicating at the outer ends thereof with the upper part of said flue, said car being arranged to provide air communication between the upper part of the lading compartment and the inner ends of said ducts, whereby air flows from the lading compartment through said ducts and, upon being cooled, flows downwardly through said flue to the lower part of the car.

. ARTHUR A. HELWIG. 

